Yes call what I just mentioned insane! I recently emailed a ballroom dance studio owner to inquire about employment as a teacher, on the drop down section where I applied I clicked on the box that read 'no experience'. She contacted me and wants to meet with me this coming week. I am a 50 year old female in basically good health with some dance experience from many years ago including ballet lessons for a short time as a child. I never was considered a clutz or of having two left feet.It would be wonderful to hear from other teachers who got their start being general novices. I would love to hear your stories

I don't want to burst your bubble but no, you can't teach without dance experience. How can you teach partnering, demonstrate steps as a man and as a woman and most importantly teach proper technique if you haven't experienced it yourself? I have been dancing for nine years (I'm in my 50's as well). I am a good solid silver level dancer and I just feel confident now teaching beginners. I understand their difficulties because I experienced them myself. Also, I know how dancing should feel and how a man should lead a figure without pushing or pulling. Also, I can switch back and forth from man to women.I have had about 650 hours of instruction. I compete in standard. Have you had any experience dancing with a partner in close contact? Ballet as a child is a joke. Seriously, it has absolutely no bearing on ballroom. By all means start dancing ballroom, it is never too late but you won't be a good teacher until you have real lessons from a qualified instructor and can actually dance around a room with a partner.

Ladydance. Very well put and true. A person should not teach beginners or anybody untill they have danced seriously for several years. Untill they know what CBMP and CBM, also NFR. (no foot rise). is and can demonstrate and explain exactly what that involves

Well...sure go ahead and start teaching with no experience. Charge people upwards of $150 for 45 minutes for something you are not competent in or qualified to do and next month those posts about how people feel angry and got ripped off by the chains.....yeah they will be talking about you.

I bet you wouldn't be okay with paying that much to someone who had no experience.

It takes years to be a competent dancer and not a shine-ola shoveler. Until you've had real experience in ballroom and know what you are doing...from technique to arm styling to steps, sway....and heaven help us....hold and proper follow/lead don't imagine you can teach.

If you want to learn to dance....please do learn. You are never too old and you can have a great time...but stay away from that studio....they obviously have no ethical qualms in taking money for a service they clearly do not mean to provide.

If you are interested in working in the studio setting, or want to get studio employment to help make your dancing more affordable, check into the front desk positions. Every studio has them... This gets you in the door where you can work with the pro's without breaking the bank, and in a few years maybe you will be ready to teach. Otherwise, the answer to your question, I would consider teaching without substantial experience complete insanity. Not that it's not a nice thought, but there are too many small things that you could miss that would cause people a lot of trouble down the road. Just speaking from personal experience, the more advanced you get, the harder it gets, and things are a lot easier to fix as a novice. That first instructor that you ever have sets the building blocks for everything that comes after.

You really can't do it without some serious ballroom background. You may see if you can get some training, but until you have been training for at least 4 years before you be an effective teacher. We cannot reasonably charge for lessons at the market value until we have been working in the industry for many years. You won't be able to charge much money until you have been dancing for a long time, enter into a lot of competitions or get credentialing on your own. I suggest that you TAKE lessons for a few years (4-6),get a lot of dancing under your belt,possibly get your professional medal exams,compete or get credentialed with an N.D.C.A. accepted syllabus before you start thinking about teaching others. Otherwise your studio will only send you brand new beginners and pay you very little to teach them. Those people will then have to move up to the more expereinced instructors to continue.......and frankly, it is really aggrivating to have to re-teach and break bad habits in students who have been taught incorrectly from those who were really not qualified to teach them in the first place. It frustrates the student who thought that they were learning it correctly, only to find that they now have to spend more money and time correcting a bad habit.

A few "instructors" in my area have had some group social dance lessons from mediocre instructors and then decided they were ready to branch out on their own and teach-- charging more than $80 an hour. I know one "instructor" who takes group social lessons for $8 and then charges $110 to teach the same thing in a private lesson. This particular instructor lists her credentials as "became interested in dancing as a child".

I occasionally receive emails from an organization that runs teacher training courses. (I am not a professional. I got on their list when I communicated with them about something—I no longer even remember what). Their latest email, billing some training courses, included this statement: "It is appropriate for all levels and no teaching experience is required."

Unfotunately a beginner with no experience cannot tell a good teacher from a bad one. They fall prey to a smooth talker which is unfortunate but true. i would maybe ask . What is CBMP and what group in a Waltz is CBMP part of. If it were Latin I would like a Rumba Walk explained in detail.

That is a bit much for a minimum requirement... I'm pretty sure that if it takes someone thirty years to feel ready to teach, then I wouldn't want them teaching me any more than a person with no experience... Lets face it, not all dancers are equal, and a persons natural ability and dedication to dance can in a huge way be the determining factor in when or if they ever become ready to teach. I cartainly agree that a total novice should in no way be teaching, but an individual with three or four years of solid & dedicated experience, has certainly put in the time to teach beginners. Furthermore, I would go as far as to say that any student who is looking for the most perfect and experienced instructor that they can find, is short changing themselves from the beginning. The simple fact of the matter is that different instructors have different strengths, and students, especially those with a dedicated partner, can benefit highly from working with multiple instructors.